Venus flytraps are endangered in the wild, and field collection is
completely wrong. Plants are easily available from numerous
nurseries on and off the web.

There is a special place in Hell for plant
collectors who field collect. I imagine the collectors cowering in
miserably drafty caves while
mighty redwood-sized plants stride about in the sunlight,
occasionally bending down to tear the shrieking field-collectors
from their burrows. The field collectors are then taken to fake little
plastic houses where they die from diseases or the broken bones
and tremendous wounds inflicted upon them by the careless
redwood tree demons (only they don't die, because it is Hell, so
this just goes on forever!).

Actually, if you are planning on collecting plants from the wild,
prepare to fork out lots of money for fines, because it is illegal.
The following information (and not my previous ranting!) was sent
to me by Marj Boyer, who was a botanist employed by the North Carolina
Plant Conservation Program. She has since retired, alas, and we miss her.

(Marj was good enough to review the Dionaea chapter of my book prior to publication,
bless her soul.)

North Carolina Regulations on Rare Carnivorous Plants
(as of April 2000---updates appreciated)

Sarracenia oreophila, S. jonesii
(S. rubra subsp. jonesii), Dionaea
muscipula (Venus flytrap), and Utricularia olivacea are legally
protected species under the
North Carolina Plant Protection and Conservation Act. The Act is
administered through the Plant Conservation Program in the NC
Department of Agriculture. The Act states that it is unlawful "to
possess any protected plant, or part thereof, which was obtained in
violation of this Article or any rule adopted thereunder."

Convicted violators are fined $100-$500 for a first offense,
$500-$1000 for subsequent convictions. "Each illegal movement or
distribution of a protected plant shall constitute a separate
violation," says the Act, and for continued violations the court may
determine that each day in violation constitutes a separate violation.
Also, for second or subsequent violations, the Plant Conservation
Board may levy a civil fine of up to $2,000.

Venus flytrap is listed under the Act as "Special Concern" (i.e. not
endangered or threatened, but entitled to regulatory protection
because their exploitation could get them to the endangered-threatened
stage). Regulations define Venus flytrap as "Any plant of the species
Dionaea muscipula INCLUDING CUTTINGS, ROOTS, FRUITS, SEEDS, PROPAGULES
OR ANY OTHER PLANT PART" [emphasis added] and state,

(b1) Venus flytraps may not be uprooted, dug, taken or otherwise
disturbed or removed for any purpose from the lands of another without
a written permit from the owner which is dated and valid for no more
than 180 days except that the incidental disturbance of protected
plants during agricultural, forestry or development operations is not
illegal so long as the plants are not collected for sale or barter.

(b2) Venus flytraps may not be uprooted, dug, taken or otherwise
disturbed or removed for any purpose from public lands in North
Carolina without a written permit from the agency which is responsible
for administration for such public lands. [At this time, no public
agency is issuing flytrap-collecting permits at all, so in effect
flytraps cannot be lawfully collected from public lands.]

(b3) The Replanting of Flytraps. All persons collecting flytraps
from the wild are encouraged to plant the seeds of collected plants,
if any, in the immediate vicinity of where they are found.

(b4) Any person collecting flytraps on the lands of another shall, at
time of collection, have on their person written permission from the
landowner, as required under G.S. 106-202.19(1). [i.e., (b1) above]

(b5) Possession of freshly dug Venus flytraps on the lands of another
shall constitute prima facie evidence that the plants were taken from
the same land on which the collector was found.

(c1) No person may sell or offer for sale Venus flytraps unless they
have been lawfully collected, propagated from lawfully obtained stock
plants or seed, or collected from one's own land.

Enforcement in the field is usually handled by local law enforcement
agents, wildlife officers and park rangers. NC wildlife officers have
the power to enforce the plant laws on and off state lands, and have
been enthusiastic in their pursuit of Venus flytrap poachers, since
poaching has severely reduced or even eliminated some flytrap
populations.

Sarracenia oreophila &
S. rubra subsp. jonesii are listed as
"Endangered-Special Concern" (E-SC) in NC. The two species are
extremely rare and vulnerable in the state, and a number of
conservation agencies are working together right now to save and
manage the habitats and the wild populations.
Utricularia olivacea is listed in North Carolina as "Threatened."
As a general rule it is
unlawful to take ANY part (including seeds) of any endangered or
threatened (E or T) plant from the wild. We have a permit system that
allows people to hold these plants under certain circumstances. There
are two kinds of permits, one for conservation and one for
propagation.

We can issue a Protected Plant Conservation Permit for collection from
wild populations for purposes that will enhance the survival of the
species: for scientific studies, for propagation for specific
conservation projects, and for plant rescues (a last-ditch measure
when the habitat is to be destroyed). The applicant for the permit
states where, what, how many and reasons for collection, and what the
ultimate disposition of the plants will be. We also issue the
conservation permits to home gardeners and the like who receive E or T
plants from a legitimate, non-wild source; the permit documents that
the permittees are holding the plants lawfully.

For E-SC (like the two Sarracenia) and T-SC species, we can issue
Protected Plant Propagation Permits. The plants can be lawfully
propagated and sold under this permit, but ONLY when the stock or
propagules come from a legitimate, non-wild source. Permittees record
all their sales and attach Protected Plant Commerce Tags, provided by
us, to the plants they sell. This makes a paper trail for the
recipients of the plants to document that they, in turn, are holding
the plants legitimately.

Another NC law, entitled "Taking, etc., of certain wild plants from
land of another," includes Sarracenia (all species) in a long list of
plants for which "no person...shall dig up, pull up or take from the
land of another or from any public domain, the whole or any part of...
without having in his possession a permit to dig up, pull up or take
such plants, signed by the owner or such land, or by his duly
authorized agent." Fines for violation are $10-$50 for each offense.

For more information on North Carolina regulations, permits, or list of
Endangered, Threatened, or Special Concern plants, see our web page at
http://www.ncplant.com